Brothers
by captainharsya23
Summary: In which when Ryoga was taken away, Ryoma run after him. Because when you love someone, you're not supposed to let go. Drabble series of how two brothers that were supposed to be separated hold onto each other. No incest. Rated T to be safe. There will be pairings in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. If I did the sequel would have been a BL manga instead of Dragon Ball but with tennis and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of responsibility.**

**Some OOC and AU elements (Duh). **

* * *

**Rain**

Of course, it rained the day that he have to leave.

Ryoga didn't hate rain by any means, but the ten-year-old have seen enough cheap dramas that his father seemed to be very fond of to know that rain during sad times is something incredibly cliché. Then again, rain does represent what he felt fairly accurately.

Every part of him wants to resist when his aunt took his hand and practically dragged him to the car. He doesn't want to leave, _never _wanted to leave. Why didn't his old man fight harder? Didn't he have more money? Yet he couldn't. Nanjiroh had told him that he have no choice and that if he fight against it will just make things more difficult.

He knew that its his fault for not being able to just tell Ryoma from the beginning that he have to leave. Nanjiroh certainly gave him the time to do it. Maybe this would have been so much easier if he hadn't been such a coward. Maybe it would have been so much easier if he had told Ryoma from the beginning instead of waiting until the very end and leave him with something as lame a promise he doesn't even know he can fulfill. But he doesn't want it to be easy. Ryoma is too special for "easy".

Certainly, Ryoga didn't hate rain. He just wished he had been standing in the rain instead of inside the car so nobody have to see the tears streaming down his face.

**Run**

For Ryoma, running was something that had been ingrained to him ever since he could remember. Nanjiroh have always been demanding, teaching him how to run ever since he could walk without stumbling every few steps. He didn't hate it, much like how he didn't _really _hate tennis despite all his whining. He just couldn't see why he should leave behind other things he's interested in for it.

That was the case until Ryoga came along. While at first they didn't really get along, with time Ryoma have come to _love _Ryoga above everything. And Ryoga liked tennis and running, so Ryoma liked tennis and running because Ryoga did. He liked to play tennis because he played it with Ryoga. He wants to get better so Ryoga wouldn't get bored of playing with him.

Perhaps it was instinct. Perhaps because he was an eight years old kid who really doesn't know better. But he ran. He ran after the car that's going to take away his brother from him. He doesn't need anyone to spell it out for him. Ryoga have never looked so _sad _before, and Ryoma knew that he have to chase after the car. He ignored the pouring rain pounding down his body, ignored his father yelling his name, ignored the promise Ryoga made just a few moment ago. He doesn't want any stupid orange or any promises. He wants Ryoga to be with him.

So he ran with all his might, chasing after his brother. Chasing after the one thing that he knew that his childish heart love above all.

**Reckless**

Maybe the sadness and grief play trick on his eyes. Maybe his tears blurs his eyes so much he can't tell what's real and not real, but Ryoga swore that he saw Ryoma running after the car from the rearview mirror. As if that's not enough, he could faintly hear through the sound of the rain someone calling his name.

Rubbing his eyes once, Ryoga can still see Ryoma desperately chasing them. Clearing his ears, he can still faintly hear Ryoma's voice calling after him. Just like that, whatever resolve he had built up crumbles into nothing. He doesn't want to leave Ryoma, no matter what. He doesn't care about all the adult things that Nanjiroh or his aunt say. He's _ten _years old for kami's sake. He had obediently listened to what the adults have to say and obeyed them. He didn't resist when Nanjiroh threw away all the things he like because it "distracts him from tennis". He have been obedient for a long time, and just this once, he wants to be selfish.

So he screams, telling his aunt to stop. He yells out that he doesn't want this, that he'd rather die than have to be separated from _his _Chibisuke. He ignored his aunt yelling at him when he unlocked the car door and jumped out into the rain. He ignored the stinging pain he felt as he fell onto the cold, hard, and wet asphalt. He ignored the fact that his vision is blurring from that pain and ran toward his brother.

When Ryoma called for him, Ryoga called back. And when they crashed into each other, despite everything else that's going on around them, Ryoga knew that's where he belong. And he closed his eyes, hoping that Ryoma will be there once he opened it again.

**Regret**

Nanjiroh never thought that it would come to be like this. He knew that Ryoga is upset about it and he also knew that Ryoma would be upset as well once it happened. Yet he couldn't have predicted that both his brats would be so… reckless. He couldn't have predicted that Ryoma would run after Ryoga even in the pouring rain nor could he have predicted that Ryoga would _jump _out of the car to meet Ryoma in the middle.

He had thought that it would be fine after Ryoga made that promise. He had thought it's not a bad way to separate too, since he figured out that the two would probably be motivated to get better at tennis so they can meet again. Yet he missed so many obvious signs that it's not alright. He missed the shaking of Ryoga's hand as he handed over the now forgotten orange to Ryoma. He missed the distraught in Ryoma's entire being when Ryoga made him that promise. He missed the fact that neither of the two would ever want to let go of the other.

Maybe if he hadn't missed it all, he wouldn't have to wait for hours to know if Ryoma would be alright after rabidly protecting Ryoga's unconscious body from anyone, afraid that if he let go then Ryoga would be taken away from him. Maybe if he hadn't missed it all, he wouldn't have to wait for hours to know if Ryoga suffered any permanent damage from jumping out from a moving vehicle straight into the asphalt.

If he had been a father, if he had seen Ryoga and Ryoma as his sons instead of his potential rivals, maybe it would never have come to the point where his sons endangered themselves just to stay together. Yet what had been done couldn't be cancelled. All that he can do is move forward and try to fix whatever it is that he still can before its all too late. Before one day he lost both his sons to his own stupidity.

"I think we need to renegotiate something."

**Relief**

Ryoma was there when he woke up, his back facing toward him, his arms spread out as if shielding him from something, his entire body shaking. At least, that's what Ryoga gathered after an entire minute regaining his bearing.

His head was still pounding, and there's a sense of numbness on the left side of his body, especially his shoulder. Memories of screaming, of recklessness, of pain, of coldness from the rain began to return to him. Whatever thought that might come to him was cut short however when he heard Ryoma's hoarse voice loudly shouting to someone he couldn't see.

"No! I-I won't let you take Ryoga away again!"

Ryoga's heart stopped for a second. Was Ryoma crying? As if by instinct, he tried to reach out to the shaking boy but quickly realised that he could barely move his right arm while attempting to move his left arm only results in a numb feeling. He need to do something, anything, to calm Ryoma down but his body felt so weak.

"C-Chibisuke…" Ryoga called out weakly.

The effect was immediate. Ryoma turned toward him and Ryoga could see that his brother is much paler than he should be, his eyes brimming with tears, and his cheek still wet from tears. "R-Ryoga?"

Ryoga only managed to gave a weak smile before Ryoma practically glomped him. Ryoga ignored the pain that shot through his entire body from the action, fighting back a wince in favor of letting Ryoma cry into his chest. It was then he noticed that Nanjiroh was also there, approaching the two of them.

"Don't worry, Ryoga won't be going anywhere." Their father assured, a small smile coming to his lips. "I guess after what you both did, even she would back down a little."

**Returning Home**

Ryoga thanked all the gods above that his stay in the hospital didn't last as long as he thought it would. According to the doctor, he got really lucky that he didn't broke anything with his stunt and got away with only a slight dislocation that could easily be fixed. He did scrape a good chunk of the skin on his arm though, but it have already began to heal and according to the doctor will disappear without a mark in a month or so.

But the best part of it all was that he didn't have to leave Ryoma after all. He couldn't care less how his dad managed to convince his aunt to let him go, the most important part was that he and Ryoma wouldn't be separated and never will be if he can help it. He would gladly throw himself into the road again if that meant staying together with Ryoma.

Ryoma had been discharged from the hospital much earlier than him, as he didn't have any wounds to be treated or dislocation to be fixed. Which meant that Ryoma must have been waiting for him back at home. Ryoga could feel a tug at his lips at the thought of Ryoma sulking from having to wait for his brother to come home. His brother is such a spoiled brat and Ryoga wouldn't have it any other way.

When he stepped out from the car, the first thing that happened was Ryoma glomping him with a smile so wide that Ryoga couldn't resist grinning as well.

"Welcome back home, Ryoga-nii!"

And Ryoga knew that he was back home and would never leave again.

* * *

**A/N: Hello there, I hope you like what you just read because I couldn't write angst to safe my life! Favorite and follow if you did, because there's no way I'll just end it like this when there's so much brotherly fluff to be had and potential future pairings to be made. No, this is _NOT _gonna have incest in it. Reviews will be greatly appreciated!**

**A few more things: **

**\- I shifted things around a little such as making Ryoga only two years older than Ryoma for reasons that y'all can probably guess. **

**\- For those who want to see spoiled brat Ryoma and "I do whatever I want" Ryoga, the next batch of drabbles will be for you. Also, fluffy things abound!**

**\- Unless specifically mentioned to be otherwise, the drabbles are in chronological order.**

**Word Count: 1,748**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. If I did, I would have made all the foreign players in the U-17 World Cup to be Hetalia characters and I don't think the traumatic flashback it'll inflict to you all will be pleasant.**

**Some OOC and AU elements (Duh).**

**Recovery**

Ryoga noticed that his brother have developed an adorable habit ever since the whole fiasco with his aunt. Well, at least he thought that its adorable that Ryoma have started to sneak into his room at night and sleep on his bed instead of his own.

By all means, Ryoga doesn't mind sleeping on the same bad with Ryoma. In fact, the only reason why he didn't do it himself was because he knew that Ryoma would probably kick him off his bed if he did. Ryoma was a brat like that after all and Ryoga loved him for that.

Nanjiroh noticed quickly enough and have come to tease Ryoma endlessly about it, to which Ryoma have taken to respond with rolled eyes and annoyed sighs. These days, that have become a bit of a standard reaction to any kind of teasing that Ryoma received from anyone but Ryoga. He tend to be more reactive when its Ryoga teasing him, and sometimes Ryoga wondered if its in purpose or just instinctive in Ryoma's part. (Ryoga pretended he didn't see the hurt in Nanjiroh's eyes whenever Ryoma practically ignored him. He's not _that _nice to so readily forgive the man who's ready to let him go)

But Ryoga knew that not all is well, because sometimes he would wake up to Ryoma practically smothering him in his sleep with his arms, his small body shaking, his eyes shut tightly as if in pain. When Ryoga heard Ryoma mutters his name in his sleep, asking him to not go, he knew that even when the scar tissues have disappeared, even when the strange feeling on his shoulder have comepletely went away, there's still a lot of recovering to do.

And as his eyes snapped open, his breath haggard, and sweat drenching his pajamas, recollection of dreams where his hand never reached Ryoma no matter how hard he tries in his mind, Ryoga realized that the same apply to him as well.

**Ropes**

It was Nanjiroh's idea, which usually meant that its utterly stupid. Not that Ryoma bothered to tell that straight to the old man's face of course. Going along with whatever Nanjiroh wants usually meant less breath wasted on a futile battle against Nanjiroh's persistence.

Even after Nanjiroh explained the merit of this particular exercise, Ryoma still think it's an absolutely stupid thing to do. Ryoga seemed to be inclined to agree, but again, they knew better than to waste their breath arguing with Nanjiroh. It's much easier to just pretend they couldn't care less.

Bottom line, playing Doubles with Ryoga against Nanjiroh while he and Ryoga's legs were connected by ropes was stupid, his father is stupid, and he wants to go to sleep because it's 6:30 AM on Sunday and only stupid people woke up early in Sunday in their own volition (Because Ryoma refused to believe that he have become someone who willingly woke up in the dead of the morning just to join Ryoga in his morning exercise, dammit).

Even after an entire set with him playing with Ryoga, in which not even once did the ropes got entangled, Ryoma still think the whole exercise is absolutely stupid. He knew where Nanjiroh get the idea from, Ryoma like to fill his spare times reading tennis magazines after all, and he knew the whole point of the exercise was to see how in sync the two players were, how much they trust each other, and yadda yadda yadda.

As if Ryoma need any stupid rope to tell him that he knew Ryoga better than anyone and trusted Ryoga with his life. They're brothers after all.

**Reading**

Ryoga didn't particularly enjoy reading. Or any activity that involved being still for a prolonged amount of time, really. But Ryoma did enjoy reading, much to Ryoga's abject horror at first and resignation after some time. Ryoga's convinced that if Nanjiroh hadn't been drilling tennis to every part of their body from the moment they can walk, Ryoma would probably make an excellent scholar in the future.

"Ne, Chibisuke, don't you ever got bored of reading those?" He pointed at the book that Ryoma reading, which Ryoga saw the title to be The Little Prince.

Ryoma tilted his head in confusion. "No, not really. I tend to avoid the boring books."

"Huh, really? I guess I've been reading the wrong books then." Ryoga mused.

Ryoma shot his brother a look. "Ryoga-nii, you don't read."

Silence fell over the two brothers for some time before Ryoga suddenly moved right into Ryoma's line of sight, pushing the book down slightly so their golden eyes met each other. A smile crept into Ryoga's lips as he made a suggestion. "How about you read it for me?"

The younger brother snorted. "Isn't the older one supposed to be the one reading for the younger one?"

"Yeah, but since when are we "usual" siblings?" Ryoga countered and Ryoma smiled at the rethorical question.

In the end, Ryoma moved to Ryoga's lap after picking out another book that he felt Ryoga would enjoy hearing better and started reading out loud. The two would be locked in that position for another two hours, Ryoga stroking Ryoma's hair softly as he listened intently to his brother's melodic voices. Ryoma would pause at times to grab a drink from the nearby table with Ryoga's help.

It was Nanjiroh who would find the two asleep inside the library, a book laid open on Ryoma's lap while the owner said lap slept with his head leaning into Ryoga's should while Ryoga hugged him from behind, his head resting on Ryoma's shoulder. The former tennis star smiled at the sight, he supposed he would allow the two to skip the evening practice this once.

**Resonance**

Ryoga was often reminded that there's so much more to life other than tennis, especially by his brother. The sound of beautiful music that came from his brother's room filling the air was one of them. Everytime he heard it, Ryoga would always be drawn into the source and watch intently his brother's fingers glide over the keys with gentleness not usually seen when they play tennis. It's something that he always looked forward to no matter the time.

He too once have other hobbies other than tennis, drawing being one of them. At least until Nanjiroh took away all his sketchbooks, telling him that he's wasting time that he could have used to practice tennis. That was then. Nanjiroh have mellowed a lot these days when it come to allowing either of them to do things other than tennis, probably out of guilt but its better than nothing.

If he hadn't, then Ryoga wouldn't get to see the other, much gentler side of Ryoma. The Ryoma who loves to read books telling of grand adventures and the humans in the middle of it all. The Ryoma whose fingers delicately create beautiful sounds that Ryoga wouldn't mind hearing in his mind in his every waking moment. The Ryoma who is more than just "his bratty little brother who liked to play tennis and really cute when teased". He would have loved Ryoma either way, but its never a bad thing to see more of the brother he loved very much.

"Ne, Chibisuke?"

Ryoma paused from his piano to turn toward his brother with a questioning look in his face. If it have been anyone else and anywhere else, Ryoma would have already swatted away the hand gently running through his hair. Ryoga knew that outside the quietness of the library where Ryoma would read for him until they both fell asleep, outside of the comfort of Ryoma's room where they would sat in silence as Ryoma played the piano with Ryoga listening, humming along as he stroke Ryoma's soft hair, Ryoma would return to his bratty self. These moments are theirs and theirs alone.

"Would you mind if I draw you while you play?" Ryoma looked puzzled for a second before shrugging. Not long after that, Ryoga brought the sketchbook he recently bought but have yet to use and took position on Ryoma's bed. Then, the younger brother started playing again, this time the sound of scribbling pencil accompanying the gentle sound of the piano.

That night, a sketch made by Ryoga of Ryoma's back as he played a piano was pinned onto the board above Ryoma's desk.

**Rival**

A soft thud of tennis ball hitting the court, and a groan escaped Ryoga's mouth.

"_Mada mada dane, nii-san._"

God, was it aggravating to be on the receiving end of that shared Echizen family catchphrase. Not to mention the way Ryoma dragged the "_nii-san" _to mock him. Ryoga knew that soon enough he will get his revenge on his younger brother, but he also knew that unlike in the past, he'd have to endure being on the receiving end more often.

Sometimes Ryoga felt a bit jealous of how quickly his brother improved. It was not that long time ago that Ryoma could barely score a point against him and now he's already beating him. Then again, the pride that come from knowing that he plays a big part in making Ryoma the increasingly excellent tennis player that he is eclipsed that jealousy.

"Would you look at that, Ryoma have already beaten you." Nanjiroh teased, and if it had been just a few months ago, Ryoga would have to resist an urge to throw his racquet straight into the retired athlete's face. But unlike in the past, Ryoga no longer feel the unspoken "you're not good enough" in Nanjiroh's words. Now, it's just that; A good natured teasing from a father to his son.

When Ryoma left to get some of his beloved grape Ponta, ignoring Ryoga's shout to get him some of the orange ones, silence descended upon Ryoga and Nanjiroh. One that was broken a few moment later by the old man.

"You're doing a great job helping Ryoma get better at tennis." Nanjiroh stated and Ryoga was a bit lost on what he should say or do in response. He's not really sure where the conversation was going. "You do realize that the only reason he worked so hard was so he can keep on playing with you, right?"

Ryoga blinked. "What?"

Nanjiroh stared at his oldest son for a moment before letting out a smile. "Well, either way, don't disappoint him, _ne_?"

The Echizen patriarch patted Ryoga's back before walking away the moment Ryoma returned, cans of grape and orange Ponta in hand. Ryoga stared at his father's retreating back for a moment before smiling.

'Don't disappoint him, huh?' Ryoga thought as he took the orang Ponta from Ryoma's hand, hearing Ryoma's "Che" as he did so. 'As if I will let myself disappoint Ryoma, you shitty old man.'

**A/N: Second batch is up! I swear I want to write cutesy fluff stuff but somehow it ended up being mostly melancholic. Also, I'm greatly influenced by May Angels Lead You In for my depiction of Ryoga and Ryoma. It's just that Ryoga isn't, you know, _dying_. Next chapter, someone will join the Echizen brothers as one of the main cast in this drabble series. Can anyone guess? Hint: He's as old as Ryoma ;) **

**Word Count: 1,805**


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. If I did, I'd probably make one of the Seigaku First Years actually good at tennis because I personally think Ryoma need more friends his age he meet all the time and can actually play against him.

Some OOC and AU elements (Duh).

Age:

Ryoma: 8 Years Old

Ryoga: 10 Years Old

* * *

**Turbulence**

_THWACK!_

Ryoma ignored the stinging in his eyes as he smacked the ball toward the wall again.

"_Your mother is sick." _Nanjirou had told him and Ryoga somberly that morning.

He hadn't heard from his mother for nearly a year by then, and the first thing he heard of her after all that time was the she's _dying_. Nanjiroh didn't say that of course, but Ryoma knew that if her sickness wasn't serious, he wouldn't have told them anything.

_THWACK!_

It was stronger, this time. Ryoma squeezed his racket in frustration as he continued to play against the wall.

Things have always been strained between Nanjiroh and Rinko ever since Ryoga came around, revealing for all to see that the Samurai wasn't quite as truthful of his past as Rinko thought. If you asked the papers, they were still married. But that's it. The two barely talked at all and Ryoma _hated _it.

He knew that Ryoga blamed himself for causing the strain, thinking that he's the reason why Ryoma barely saw his mother anymore. Ryoma have made it clear that the blame lays solely on Nanjiroh's shoulder, but he knew that Ryoga didn't truly believe it.

_THWACK!_

"_We're going to America for her treatment."_

Oh _now_, his father decided to care about her. It's not like Ryoma was attached to Japan or anything. Ryoga was about the only person he really cared about, after all. But it reminded him that in the end, both he and Ryoga were still under Nanjiroh's whims due to the simple fact they're too young to have any choice.

Snarling, Ryoma hit the ball with his racquet again, this time with all his frustration and annoyance directed solely toward said ball.

_CRASH!_

When the ball left large cracks on the wall of the court, Ryoma felt accomplished for a second before that too was swallowed by his negative emotions.

Taking a deep breath, Ryoma reminded himself that he was yet to pack his things up and left the court.

**Trip**

Ryoga wanted to slap himself silly for completely forgetting the most important piece of clothers for anyone living a life of decency when he packed for the vacation.

When they find out that Rinko's condition had gotten better, Nanjiroh decided that they should celebrate by taking a vacation somewhere nice. Ryoga had been so excited by the idea of having a vacation with his entire family (_He ignored the small voice in his head that cynically laughed at that_) for the first time ever that he had completely missed the fact that he didn't pack in his underwear before leaving for Hawaii.

Which brought him to his predicament.

"…you're an idiot." Ryoma said monotonely, still disbelieving of the fact that his brother forgot something as crucial as underwear.

Ryoga buried his face into his palm and agreed with his little brother's assessment for once. "What should I do, Chibisuke?!"

"Use the old man's." Ryoma smirked when he saw the look of utter horror in Ryoga's face.

"_NO!_" Ryoga protested heatedly. "I would rather die than have to use his underwear!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes but froze when he saw Ryoga quietly staring at him once he calmed down a little. "_No."_

"But Chibisuke~" Ryoga whined. "You wouldn't really let Ryoga Junior spend the entire vacation hanging right?"

Ryoma gave his answer in the form of a kick to Ryoga's crotch. After that he rummaged a little through his bag and threw two of his underwear straight toward Ryoga's face.

Glaring at his brother, Ryoma growled out. "You owed me one."

"T-thanks Chibisuke." The older brother wheezed out, still winded from having his scrotum kicked by his brother.

**Tan**

"Chibisuke I'm dying~" Ryoga whined pitifully as he laid on the bed, wincing with every move he made.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "That's because you already ran away before using the sunscreen."

The younger of two were sporting a slightly tanner skin than usual while the older's skin were practically red all over his body.

"Also, you smell. Take a shower already and no, I don't care if the water hurts. Either you take a shower or you sleep outside." Ryoma stated, fanning his hand to drive his point home. "And stupid _oyaji _and _kaa-san _are waiting for us to got for dinner, so make it quick."

"_Mou~ _Chibisuke is so demanding." Ryoga pouted, still not moving from his position on the bed.

Ryoma glared at his brother. "You do realize that I'm strong enough to drag you all the way to the bathroom right? I'm sure your skin will love to get scraped by the floor in the journey."

With that, Ryoga immediately sat up, his two hands up. "Okay, okay!"

Before Ryoga entered the bathroom, Ryoma threw a bottle of aloe vera cooling gel to his brother.

"Use it after shower." He muttered quietly, avoiding his brother's gaze.

Ryoga grinned before entering the bathroom. "Thanks Chibisuke~"

**Treasure**

"How does that work?" Ryoma asked to the tour guide in near-perfect English, pointing at the camera.

He have always wanted to get a camera, as he thought that it would be nice to have more stuff other than Ryoga's drawings on the "memory board" that he had since pinned on the wall above his bed ever since they moved to The US. Photographs of happy memories looked like it would be a good addition.

The tour guide smiled. "Oh, how about if I show you directly?'

Ryoma approached the Hawaiian man, and for the next hour or so, the man thought Ryoma the basics of using a camera while trailing Nanjiroh and Rinko, both of which was practically lost to their own world, and Ryoga, who seemed to have come to take a liking to talking with the other tour guide.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga called out and Ryoma turned away from his crash course on photography to turn toward his brother. "Look! The sun is about to set!"

Looking at the horizon, Ryoma noticed that indeed the sun was about to set. He then noticed that the light of the sun fell perfectly on his brother, its soft orange glow reflecting on the ocean. Unconsciously, Ryoma moved to borrow the camera from the tour guide, an almost inaudible mumble of "I'm using this" the only thing keeping the older man from immediately taking it back.

The next day, Ryoma added a photograph of Ryoga grinning widely as he looked at the sun setting in the distance to the board above his bed.

**Ten**

"I guess this is what they meant by _**ten**_nis. Got it?" Ryoga grinned when he saw Ryoma's expression darkened after he said his shitty pun. Really, his brother was at his cutest when he's angry. Well, not _angry _angry but annoyed angry. Ryoga would rather keep the memory of the only time Ryoma had ever gotten truly angry out of his mind, thank you.

To match the growing ire that Ryoma felt, Ryoga could feel that when the ten balls returned to his side of the court, it carried more force than it did before. Ryoga kind of admired the way Ryoma could turn anger and annoyance into motivation instead of distraction. Carefully, he returned all ten balls to Ryoma's side of the court with a single stroke.

Of course it was another one of Nanjiroh's training idea that made them rally using ten balls at once. Of course Ryoma was annoyed at first, a little impressed a little bit into it, then back to annoyed once he got the hang of it. Well, it took them both an entire week to finally have a decent rally going between them with ten balls at once (_Ryoma pointedly ignored Ryoga's gloating when he become the first between the two of them to successfully return all ten balls at once)_ but even Ryoma begrudgingly admitted that it did them some good.

After a few more minutes, Ryoga dropped all ten balls in purpose. "Okay, this is getting old. Want to go out and get some popsicle? I'll cycle us there."

Ryoma didn't even hesitate to throw his racket straight into his open tennis bag. "Sure."

"You don't need to hide your excitement, you know." Ryoga teased.

"Nor do I have to blatantly show it." Ryoma shot back, not denying the fact that he was indeed excited. If there's one thing that could rival grape Ponta, it's grape flavored popsicle. If only there was a way to make carbonated grape popsicle…

Ryoga simply chuckled good-naturedly as he and his younger brother left the court.

**Trapped**

"Why do we even have a well in our house again?" Ryoma growled in annoyance as he stared at glared at their only source of light. "I'm pretty sure our water pump works perfectly all the time."

Ryoga shrugged helplessly. "Beats me. But this does feel familiar though."

"Because this have happened before, _baka nii-san_." Ryoma snapped.

Ryoga laughed awkwardly and silence fell upon them. Ryoga noticed that that his younger brother had began fidgeting, which he knew Ryoma only do when he's nervous. Sighing, Ryoga ignored the fact that he'll get himself wetter by doing so and sat next to his brothe. "I'm sure the old man will find us again."

"But we can't climb the wall like back then." Ryoma stated, his voice trembling slightly as he did so. "Even if he find us he can't just pull us out."

They had tried to do what they did the last time they were trapped inside a well, joining up to climb it using their legs to no avail. The walls were much too slippery and Ryoma injured his leg after that failed attempt, making further attempts unfeasible.

"He'll call the police, or fire fighter, or whoever was supposed to handle this kind of situation." Ryoga replied.

Ryoma was quiet for a moment before speaking up. "Fire fighter. They're the one that handle this kind of situation."

"See, we'll be fine!" Ryoga grinned and patted his younger brother on the back to try to calm him down. Not retracting his arm, Ryoga then moved to pull his brother toward him, allowing Ryoma to rest his head on his shoulder. "…what happened? You're not as scared as this the last time this happened."

"I'm not scared." Ryoma protested but for once, Ryoga shot him an annoyed look and he decided to back down. Looking down, he answered his brother's question truthfully. "… stupid old man locked me in the bathroom, once, not long after the last time something like this happened. It was stupid and it was my fault, but…"

Ryoga's expression darkened at Ryoma's reply. "He sure does love to make problem and solve it himself, doesn't he?"

"I guess so." Ryoma replied dryly.

It wouldn't be for another thirty minutes that Nanjiroh came to the well, and another thirty minutes until they finally get out of the well with help from the fire fighters that Ryoma told Nanjiroh to call. Ryoga then pointedly ignored Nanjiroh for the rest of the day after he said his thanks. Just because he's grateful, that didn't mean he's not angry.

* * *

**A/N: ****They don't hate Nanjiroh, but it take time to heal from years of being second to tennis for their own father.**

**The last drabble is based on an untranslated chapter of the New Prince of Tennis manga. Essentially, they've fallen into a well together before and was rescued by Nanjiroh. Hence, the "again"**

**I decided to push back adding the new main cast member since I want to write more of just Ryoma and Ryoga before adding another person to the dynamic. So for those who wants that, please be a bit more patient.**

**As always, I appreciate all reviews, faves, and follows.**

**Also, to respond to the comment from the guest (Thanks!): They will play together in Japan, eventually, but not for Seigaku. I have something else in mind (Hint: They'll want to make their own legacy instead of finishing Nanjiroh's unfinished one).**

**Word Count: 1,857**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. If I did, I would have let Ryoma and Kintarou actually played a full match in the Nationals semi-final because honestly it's bullshit that they didn't get to after the whole thing was hyped up for like 50 chapters.**

**Some OOC and AU elements (Duh).**

**Age:**

**Ryoma: 9 Years Old**

**Ryoga: 11 Years Old**

* * *

**Celebration**

Neither Ryoma nor Ryoga really cared about their birthday. Unlike other kids of their age, neither of them were particularly interested on getting gifts or celebrating.

For one, neither of them have any friends, really. Both were home schooled by a tutor, which meant that they don't have any classmates to celebrate with.

(_Not that they really cared at that point, since for the two of them, they're all they will ever need)_

And gifts weren't exactly something that they looked forward to. At least, not from Nanjiroh (or Rinko, for that matter). They knew what they're going to get from their father; the same thing that they got ever since they could remember, which usually consisted of tennis equipment and magazines. They didn't hate it, but there was a point where they wished that maybe they could get something else.

_(It didn't really help that Nanjiroh tend to make said gift both their birthday and Christmas gift)_

"…you're buying me a camera."

Nanjiroh couldn't help but felt a twinge of hurt when Ryoma gave him an incredulous look once the youngest Echizen realized what he's getting for his birthday. Was it really that hard to believe for him to pay attention to his own son? Judging from Ryoma, Ryoga, and RInko's reaction that seemed to be the case.

Laughing it off, Nanjiroh simply stated. "Well, if you don't like it, I can always get you a new racket later."

"…no. Thanks for the camera." Ryoma mumbled almost inaudibly before leaving with his new camera. As much as he tried to hide it with his hat (Rinko have often scolded him for wearing one indoor) everyone could see the twinkle in his eyes as he did so and decided to let him be.

Snickering a little to himself, Ryoga could easily see the excitement in Ryoma;s eyes. The older of the two knew that Ryoma had been eyeing the cameras in the shop they often passed during their daily run, and it seemed Nanjiroh noticed as well.

Opening his own gift not long after, Ryoga's eyes widened when he saw a set of coloring pencils from the brand that he have always wanted. Looking at his father, he noticed that the old man had looked away, red slightly tinting his cheeks while Rinko giggled to herself. "I saw the drawings on Ryoma's board. I just think they'll be better in color."

Standing up, for the first time in a long time, Ryoga gave a wide genuine smile to his father. "Thanks."

Once Ryoga left, Rinko patted her husband on the back with a smile as if to say "Good job'. Nanjiroh simply grumbled to himself about "uncute child" though it's impossible for him to hide the smile on his lips.

For the first time in many years, the Echizens are a family again.

**Cookies**

"I'm not eating that." Ryoma said with a sense of finality, glaring at his pouting older brother.

"But Chibisuke~, I worked so hard to make this!" Ryoga whined, still not giving up on making his younger brother to eat the cookies he made.

Ryoma scowled, though Ryoga felt that it's definitely more like a pout. "And that's exactly why I'm not gonna eat it."

"Fine. I guess I'll just let the old man eat this for himself." Ryoga grumbled as he left Ryoma's room with the plate of cookies in hand.

"Poor him." Ryoma commented. Ryoga flipped him off before closing the door.

That night, Ryoga stuck out his tongue toward Ryoma when Nanjiroh happily munched on the cookies that his oldest gave to him. Ryoma simply rolled his eyes and muttered, "Just wait and see."

Two days before New Year, Nanjiroh were hospitalized due to a nasty stomach virus.

"Told you this will happen." Ryoma stated smugly while Ryoga buried his face into his palms. "I watched you made the cookie, you know."

Ryoga turned to his brother, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Wait, you did?!"

"You're not exactly being quiet when you cook." Ryoma stated simply. "Also, you didn't wash your hand before making the cookie and I didn't want to get stomachache, so…"

"…oh."

"_Mada mada dane, nii-san."_

The next time Ryoga made cookies, Ryoma didn't hesitate to take the entire plate from his brother. He knew where Ryoga got the recipe after all, and he knew for one that Rinko made really good cookies. (_Now, if only there's a recipe for grape flavored cookies…)_

**Continuity**

"They don't even try to be awake for the midnight celebration, aren't they?" Rinko asked her husband, amusement clear in her voice.

Nanjiroh sighed. "They never did."

The couple watched as their two sons slept under the kotatsu practically hugging each other in their sleep. Ryoma shifted a little in his sleep, putting his face closer to Ryoga's chest while Ryoga unconsciously accommodated his brother.

"Well, it's not like they like fireworks anyway." Rinko stated. She really wanted to go and pinch her sons just from looking at the two being adorable with each other in their sleep, but so far her self-control was winning.

"Nor do we have temple visit because there aren't any temple around." Nanjiroh added dejectedly. One of the downsides of living in The US was the fact that there simply wasn't much in the way for them to do any of the Japanese "rituals" they usually do. "Not that those two were awake to do it last year."

Nanjiroh had hoped to be able to least watch the fireworks with two, considering he practically dragged himself out of the hospital just to spend the New Year with his sons. But well, it seemed he'll have to wait until morning to "celebrate" with them.

Rinko chuckled quietly, careful not to wake the two up. "Well, I suppose sleeping together might become their New Year tradition then?"

Smiling softly, Nanjiroh huffed. "I guess there are worse New Year traditions, especially among youngsters these days."

**Cold**

"This is your fault." Ryoma wheezed out weakly before a sneezing fit interrupted whatever he wanted to say next.

Ryoga grinned sheepishly at his sick younger brother.

Two days earlier, he and Nanjiroh had practically buried Ryoma in snow when the two teamed up on the youngest Echizen during their snowball fight.

Though, it'd probably be much better for Ryoma if he hadn't been so stubborn considering it took him actually collapsing from both exhaustion and near damn hypothermia for them to stop. Rinko had scolded both Nanjiroh and Ryoga severely for that even though Ryoma ended up fine.

Well, considering the Echizen men's standard of "fine" being "not dying", the cold and flu that Ryoma got counted as "fine".

"Here, have some hot chocolate." Ryoga handed over the mug to Ryoma who accepted it begrudgingly. He preferred to have some heated grape Ponta (Ryoga had called him a genius the first time he did that) but he knew that his mother would kill him if he was caught drinking it, so he have to settle with some hot chocolate.

Despite blowing on it for some time, Ryoma still found the drink to be too hot, causing him to stick out his burned tongue. "Ugh, heated Ponta won't do this to me."

"You have such a cat tongue." Ryoga laughed at his brother's predicament.

Glaring at his brother, Ryoma blew on his drink for a bit more before forcing himself to finish the entire mug in one go, probably burning both his tongue and throat in the process.

"…you know, it's _okay _to admit you're bad at something." Ryoga muttered as he left to get something that would help Ryoma with his newly burned tongue and throat, ignoring the gasped out "mada mada dane" from Ryoma.

**Collection**

"We need a new board." Ryoga stated, seeing the very crowded board that Ryoma dubbed as "memory board" being filled with one more photo.

One that depicted the two of them being covered from head to toe with flour after their latest attempt on making a cake together ended successfully. It was Ryoga that started smearing flour on Ryoma's face and twenty minutes later, they both found themselves lying on the floor covered from head to toe with flour, panting from laughing too much. Rinko scolded them but also offered to take the photo for them.

Ryoma stared at the board quietly for some time before nodding to himself.

"No, we don't need a new board." Ryoma stated.

Seeing Ryoga's questioning expression, Ryoma smirked. "I have an idea so we won't ever need a board anymore."

Three days later, the two brothers, along with Nanjiroh had finished putting a layer of transparent plastic covering over the wall on Ryoma's room.

"Well, I guess it's now a "memory wall" then." Ryoga commented once they finished double-taping all the drawings and photos onto the wall.

Holding up his camera, Ryoma gestured his brother to move a little, which Ryoga complied, before taking a picture of the wall with Ryoga in front of it grinning widely while making a peace sign.

Three days later, that photo, along with Ryoga's colored drawing of a sleeping and cold stricken Ryoma became the first new residents on the wall.

**Champion**

The very first award that Ryoma won wasn't one of a tennis tournament or related to tennis at all but that of a photography competition.

It was Ryoga's idea, to submit one of Ryoma's photographs to a local junior Photography competition. Ryoma had shrugged and told him to do whatever he wanted but to not bother him with any of the administrative stuff to enter the competition.

Two weeks later, while changing clothes after a particularly intense tennis match with Ryoga that he narrowly lost, his brother came to him, grinning ear to ear and told him that he won.

"Did you hit your head on something?" Ryoma asked, looking at his brother weirdly. He was pretty sure that he lost the match they just had.

Ryoga shook his head. "No, no, I'm not talking about the match. Remember that I submitted one of your photos for a competition?"

"The one with the frozen lake?" Ryoma asked, recollection coming to him.

"Yup! You got first place!" Ryoga announced, showing Ryoma the internet page where the winner was announced. "There will be an exhibition in a week and since you won, of course you're expected to be there."

When they told Nanjiroh and Rinko about it, the two happily congratulated Ryoma for it.

"So that's what you're borrowing the 20 dollars for!" Nanjiroh exclaimed as if figuring out a big secret. "I thought you're using it to buy porn!"

"That's just you, stupid old man." Ryoga shot back, glaring at him. "By the way there'll be an exhibition for the photos in a week, so make time for it, won't you two."

Rinko smiled, knowing that Ryoga specifically meant her by that. "Of course I will. Still, who would've thought that the first thing that Ryoma get an award for will be for photography instead of tennis?"

"_Mada mada dane, kaa-san_." Ryoma said with a smirk, which earned him a hair ruffling from his mother while both Nanjiroh and Ryoga laughed at him.

* * *

**A/N: Talking about off-season... Oh well. Maybe in this year's Christmas I will make a proper Christmas plus birthday chapter for the two. Next chapter will have a pretty big revelation, so wait for that one and follow/favorite this fic so you don't miss that. Also, all reviews are appreciated! I don't beta this thing so even grammar correction ones will be very much appreciated.**

**Note, having a cat tongue means having tongue that can't stand heat. It's a Japanese thing I think.**

**Also, I wonder if I should put up a poll or something for the pairings that will come in the future. I'm currently stuck on who Ryoma's gonna end up with even though I already have one for Ryoga.**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. If I did the sequel would have been a BL manga instead of Dragon Ball but with tennis and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of responsibility.**

**Some OOC and AU elements (Duh).**

**Age:**

**Ryoma: 9 Years Old**

**Ryoga: 11 Years Old**

* * *

**Association**

While Ryoma certainly loved the feeling of being acknowledged as being the best at something (or in this particular case, having the skill to capture something considered the best), he certainly hated all the boring formalities he have to go through after winning.

"Chibisuke, you have to try these!" Ryoga practically shoved the plate of snacks onto his hand.

If there's one good thing about the exhibition, it's probably the fact that it have some nice snacks and a nearby vending machine have grape Ponta. He really couldn't care less about cozying up to the organizers or potential sponsors attending it, since he's like, nine years old. Something like that was more of Rinko's thing and definitely not his or Ryoga's.

"You look bored."

Turning toward the source of the voice, Ryoma found a teenager about a head taller than him with blond hair, his eyes seemingly closed. He noted that the older boy wore a suit just like he did, which meant that either he's also one of the invited winners or one of the VIPs. Ryoma guessed the latter.

Ryoma simply shrugged. "Not really my thing."

"Figured out as much." The older boy teased, causing Ryoma to frown (pout, really). "Ah, it's very rude of me for not introducing myself. I'm Ralph Rhinehart."

"Ryoma Echizen." Ryoma stated, reminding himself to have the order being first name, last name instead of the reverse.

"Ah." Ralph nodded. "The winner of the junior competition. Congratulation for that."

Ryoma's hand twitched for a moment before he remembered that he's not wearing his hat because Rinko made sure that he's not wearing a cap to a formal event. "Thanks, I guess. What are you here for?"

"Well, my father is part of the board of the school making the competition." Ralph explained. "Excuse for this, but I'm probably as bored as you are."

Ryoma nodded. "That's fair."

"Chibisuke~, who's that you're talking with?" Ryoga questioned as he approached the two, a plate of snacks in hand.

"I'm Ralph Rhinehart." Ralph introduced himself once again. "I assume you're Ryoma's older brother?'

"Yup! The name is Ryoga Echizen." Ryoga stated with a smile, though Ryoma could tell from the fact that Ryoga have practically pushed Ryoma into himself and have his arm encircle Ryoma's back, he's far more suspicious of Ralph than he let on.

'Typical _aniki_.'

"Say." Ralph suddenly said after some moment of silence. "Do you two play tennis?"

At that, both Ryoma and Ryoga perked up.

**Acquaintance**

The fourteen years old didn't expect that both Ryoma and Ryoga were actually just as into tennis as he is. Nor does he thought that they'll actually take up his offer to use the school court, which he have access to courtesy of his father's standing in the school and his own position as the school's Junior High division tennis club's Captain.

The most surprising part, perhaps, was that the two are good enough to give him a run for his money. While he did win both, he certainly didn't expect for someone five years and three years younger than him to give him such a good match.

"Do you want some?" Ryoga offered a can of orange ponta to Ralph, to which Ralph politely refused.

Ryoga shrugged. "Well, suit yourself then."

"My coach was very strict with what I drink." Ralph stated, feeling rather annoyed at the reminder. While he's aware of the adverse effect such sugary drink might have on his health, he did like soda, Dr. Pepper being on top of his list.

"Thanks for the game, by the way." Ryoma stated, uncharacteristically talkative even for Ryoga. "It was fun."

Seeing his brother's questioning gaze, Ryoma scowled. "What? I'm trying to be nice for once."

"To be honest, I was just blurting out random things because I hate uncomfortable silence." Ralph admitted.

"It's not like we got anything better to do." Ryoma said, opening a brand new can of grape ponta after finishing his previous one.

"Well, either way we have fun didn't we?" Ryoga stated before taking a gulp out of the can of orange ponta in his hand. "Besides, you're good. We should play again sometimes."

Ralph smiled. "Yes, I think we should."

**Acquaintance, Part 2**

It was about two weeks later that Ryoma and Ryoga hit Ralph up with an e-mail suggesting that they meet up and have a match again. The blond agreed, asking them if they mind if he bring some of his friends, promising that they're also good opponents to have.

Neither Ryoga nor Ryoma minded. More people to play against, the better. If Ralph is any indication, the two were sure that his friends were probably gonna be fun to play against as well.

"You're kidding me!" Kiko Valentine exclaimed. "I lost to a nine years old kid?! I thought you're just a really short middle schooler!"

Ryoma fought the urge to throw something toward the excitable blond's face.

"Well, people does tend to come up with strange explanations to cover up their embarrassment." Ryoma stated dryly, settling on sarcasm. "_Mada mada dane_."

"What does that mean, anyway?" Dudu Obando asked. The African-American teen recalled Ryoga telling him the same thing after their match previously.

Ryoga smirked. "That means you still got a lot to work on."

"Well, aren't you two cheeky brats." Kiko pouted.

Ralph smiled as he saw his friends interacts with the two brothers. They've only met twice but he already liked the two a lot. Not only because they're really good at tennis but also because there's entertainment to be found just from watching the two bicker with each other and other people.

A few days later, Ryoma added the photo of the five of them eating together onto the memory wall. For the first time, someone other than him, Ryoga, Nanjiroh, and Rinko was in the photo or drawings taped there. Quietly, Ryoma hoped there'll be much more of such photos to come.

**Affectionate**

The name calling began when Ryoma called Ryoga a "tangerine bitch". In response to "tangerine bitch", Ryoga called Ryoma a "grapey ass". It all went downhill from there.

At first it was like a competition on who can come up with the most creatively insulting nickname for one another. Then the "no curse word" rule was introduced after Rinko overheard their bickering once and was appalled by the vulgarity.

At some point Ryoga smacked Ryoma on the head with a tennis racket.

At another point Ryoma sends a 180 km/h serve straight into Ryoga's dick.

After some time, they decided to do away with the "no curse word" rule, opting to just call each other normally in front of their parents and goes all in when there's no one else around.

"… you know, as much as I found all the things we came up with really funny, it's beginning to be a mouthful." Ryoga stated. "I mean, yeah 'absolute white crayon' was funny but it's not really practical for everyday use."

Ryoma stared at his brother for a while before turning back to the book he was reading. "Yeah sure, whatever. You're just mad you have no comeback for 'stale ham sandwich'."

"Look-"

After another hour of endless name calling that started with "game with no autosave feature" and ended with "dick waffle", the two brothers decided to call it a truce.

If sometimes Ryoma still call Ryoga a butt munch, or if sometimes Ryoga call Ryoma a dick waffle, then Rinko pretended not to hear it. She prefers to think that there's only one idiot in her house and not three, after all.

**Apologetic**

The sound of soft piano music filled the Echizen household, telling Nanjiroh that they would most likely forgo their usual afternoon practice for the day. Even if he managed to coax Ryoma to go and play against him, Ryoga would probably have better things to say to coax Ryoma back to his piano. Nanjiroh also wasn't really keen on interrupting the two's "personal" time together.

There's something sacred, he decided, about the way his two sons would spend hours without talking at all yet somehow still convey everything they would ever need to say to each other through the soft tinkle of the piano and the scribbles of a pencil.

There's a pang of emptiness in his chest when he remembered that once upon a time, there was someone like that for him as well.

Sometimes Nanjiroh still dreamt of the rainy day when Ryoma and Ryoga hold onto each other as if nothing else matters. The day that Ryoga chose Ryoma over everything else, willingly throwing himself into harm just to run back to Ryoma.

Sometimes Nanjiroh dreamt that it was himself that did that. Sometimes Nanjiroh dreamt that it was his brother who jumped out of that car to run back to him. Sometimes Nanjiroh dreamt that his brother never run away from their home because it was all too much for him.

Until that day, Nanjiroh thought that he had all but forgotten. But that day, Nanjiroh realized that he had done nothing but run away from his guilt and problems, refusing to recognize the mistake that he and his own father made all those years ago. It was then he resolved to stop running and not make the same mistake that torn him and his own brother apart.

Peeking into Ryoma's room, he could see Ryoma sitting on Ryoga's lap, the latter burying his face into the younger of the two, the gentle music continuing to fill the air. Nanjiroh smiled to himself. 'And what a great decision that was.'

Returning to his own room, Nanjiroh pulled out a brown envelope, with the word "Syuichiro Echizen" written on it.

'I guess, it's about to time for me to face my mistakes head on.'

**Atonement**

"You know, at this rate, I won't be surprised if at some point you pulled out another half-brother for me." Ryoma stated dryly.

Ryoga sighed. "Stupid old man."

Turning to Rinko, Ryoga asked the question that he felt like he already know the answer to but can't help to ask anyway. "Mom, do you know about this?"

Glaring at her husband, Rinko replied tightly. "No. Not a mention from your father or your grandfather and grandmother about _this_."

"Well, it's my old man that insisted on practically erasing his existence from the family." Nanjiroh sighed. It would have been nice if he could give his full explanation without interruption, but he knew that's not possible. "It's a long story, so please listen."

The brothers paused for a second at their father's request. They decided to comply, feeling the fact that whatever Nanjiroh was going to tell this was something important.

"As I've said before, I have an estranged older brother called Syuichiro." Nanjiroh began when he realized that he have his sons' full attention. "He ran away from home when I was fourteen and he was sixteen."

Seeing his sons questioning gaze, Nanjiroh gave a small sad smile. "He ran away because our father, your grandfather is very… how to say this, demanding. Syuichiro is far from stupid or weak, but at that I was already a rising tennis star and our father… he got impatient with Syuichiro."

"He kept on pressuring Syuichiro to do better. Syuichiro actually used to be better at tennis when we were younger, but he found other interest while I focused solely on tennis." Nanjiroh stated and he could see the flash of recognition in his sons' eyes. "Long story short, he can't take it anymore and run away from home. Our father pretty tells me to forget about him and pretend he never existed. I guess the guilt made me feel like it's more convenient to comply rather than push back."

"What's with the change of heart now, then?" Ryoga asked sharply.

Nanjiroh smiled at his sons. "I wonder what. He lives in Japan now, and just one month ago I tried to contact him for the first time in decades."

"… it went well, doesn't it?" Ryoma asked.

"More than I thought it would. He's married and have two kids, one of them the same age as Ryoma." Nanjiroh replied almost excitedly. "I… I was thinking about visiting him in Japan, soon. "

"Stupid old man, _we _are going to visit them." Ryoga butted in. "Do you really think that we trust you not to fuck it up?"

Rinko chuckled. "No, we don't."

"_Mada mada dane, baka oyaji_." Ryoma stated with a smirk.

Nanjiroh couldn't help but feel happy and hugged his wife and sons in one big hug, ignoring their yelp and the youngest protests.

* * *

**A/N: Some note, Syuichiro Echizen is an OC. Ralph Rhinehart, Dudu Obando, and Kiko Valentine are not. They're all members of the US U-17 team in the sequel series. Now, wonder who Syuicihiro's son is... (Hint: He's not an OC, he's exactly 9 days younger than Ryoma, and is usually paired with someone whose name rhymes with Sin Ninjutsu).**

**Also, sorry for the deficiency in Ryoma/Ryoga fluff in this chapter. This is more of a story-centric chapter, setting things up for future events. The next chapter will also be one, but I'll try to fit in as much fluff as I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! It's been some time huh?**

* * *

**Flight**

If there's one thing that Ryoga would never admit to anyone, ever, was the fact that he's deathly afraid of flying. While the idea of floating a few thousand meters above sea level with the only thing separating him and certain death was a few centimeters of metal and glasses was already terrifying enough, the fact that his mother died in a plane accident certainly compounded that fear.

Fortunately for him, Ryoma never needed any reason, any admittance from Ryoga, to _know_. To know that there's something wrong whenever Ryoga's smile become much tighter than it should have been whenever they so much stepped into an airport. To know that the only keeping Ryoga from basically begging them to take anything else to go to Japan as long as it's not a plane is his pride. So he doesn't mind at all when Ryoga gripped his wrist so hard that it went numb when the plane took off. Or the fact that Ryoga needed his help to get from his seat to the toilet because while he could make seem as if his legs weren't shaking the entire time, it doesn't change the fact that it did shook the entire time.

If it had been anyone else, Ryoma wouldn't have bothered at all. Spending over 12 hours sitting next to someone who could barely function normally is a huge toll on anyone, and it _is _a huge toll on him. But well, if Ryoga is swilling to put up with his incessant nagging and brattiness, his fear of tight spaces, and many more for years to no end, he could definitely put up with Ryoga's fear of flying for a hours every few months or so.

"Go to sleep already, stupid _aniki_." He grumbled though his hand continued to softly rub Ryoga's back, helping his brother's tense body to relax slightly. It's beginning to be tiring, doing it for hours, but he's not heartless enough to left his brother to his own self for the entire flight. That, and the more Ryoga slept through the flight, the easier it would be for him.

He ignored the glances Nanjiroh gave. 'Stupid old man. If you don't want to say anything, then at least try to do something.'

Which, for the most part, is the root of all Nanjiroh's problem, wasn't it? Knowing there's a problem but not actually doing something about it. He just hoped that once they landed, Nanjiroh wouldn't mess things up with his brother. After all, Ryoma does look forward to getting to know his uncle (Mostly for the potential gossips and blackmail material on his father).

**Frozen**

As it turns out, it's possible for the ever confident and cocky Nanjiroh Echizen to freeze up from nerve. Ryoga fought the urge to smack himself on the face. Then again, meeting one's estranged sibling does sounds like something nerve-racking. At least, he remembered all the instances of such thing happening in fiction to be usually very tense.

"Brother." Syuichiro greeted, his expression tense. Ryoga noticed the slight fidgets that the man attempted to suppress to his best ability, though Ryoga's keen eyes easily saw it. A cursory glance to Ryoma told him that his younger brother noticed as well. Though, Ryoma seemed to find the out of character behavior from Nanjiroh to be more amusing than frustrating.

After some moment of uncomfortable silence, Rinko decided to step in and cut into the tense atmosphere, greeting her newfound brother-in-law as carefully and cheerfully as possible. Ryoga followed suit, though less cheerful and more guarded. Ryoma also followed, doing so with his usual nonchalance and aloofness. Ryoga sometimes felt jealous of how unshakable his brother can be, no matter how tense the situation is.

But it does the trick and the tension between Nanjiroh and Syuichiro noticeably decreased, and the two began to talk with each other in a more relaxed manner. While the content of the conversation, mainly about things like "how have you been" and "how is your family" question and answers made it clear that there's still a lot of awkwardness between the two, it's an improvement.

As they walked into Syuichiro's house, Ryoga couldn't help but wonder. If he hadn't jumped out of that car, in that rainy day, would he and Ryoma also grew estranged like Nanjiroh and Syuichiro? Will they path ever cross again? If yes, how would they interact with each other?

Ryoga shook his head. No use in dwelling on such questions too much. All that matter is that he and Ryoma hold onto each other and they're together now.

**Family**

Syuichiro have two children, as Nanjiroh have told them before. The older one is a boy about Ryoma's age, apparently just six days younger than him, while the other is a girl about two years younger than Ryoma. And it seemed that both of them were rather shy, as evidenced by the fact that neither of them have yet to approach anyone from Nanjiroh's side of the family. Ryoma personally can see some resemblance between him and the boy that's supposed to be his cousin. Short, bit messy black hair, golden eyes, and Ryoma took some comfort in the fact that both of Syuichiro's children were shorter than him. Which mean that Ryoga's height most likely came from his mother and the Echizen gene seemed to lean toward the shorter part. On the other hand, the girl's red hair and brown eyes seemed to take after her mother.

After some time, it become apparent that neither the boy nor the girl are going to come out without some push and Syuichiro decided that it's about time his children came out and greet their uncle, aunt, and cousins. Both Ryoma and Ryoga have easily came and introduced themselves to Syuichiro and his wife, Akane Dan.

Apparently Syuichiro had taken up his wife's last name instead of the other way around. Which, knowing the circumstances, make a lot of sense.

"Come on Taichi, Mina." Akane gently nudged the two. Ryoma watched the two closely, mostly out of curiosity, looking for potential similarity between either of them and himself and maybe Ryoga. He doesn't really meet people from either Nanjiroh or Rinko's family much, with the only one he knew by name and face being Nanako (Bless her soul). While he tried to stare as discreetly as possible, they seemed to notice and shied further away from him. Then Ryoma noticed that Ryoga was also staring. Both of them decided to stop doing so, since it's clear that their cousins are nowhere near as shameless as they are.

"Uhm, m-my name is Dan Taichi, _desu_." Taichi introduced himself before gesturing to the girl beside him. "A-and this my little sister, Mina Taichi, _desu_."

"Ryoma Echizen." Ryoma stated non-chalantly.

"Ryoga Echizen." Ryoga followed up with a bit more vigour. "Nice meeting you two!"

Much to Ryoma's amusement, the two actually shrunk a bit more faced by Ryoga's brightness. Go figure.

"_Ne_." Ryoma spoke up, getting his brother and cousins' attention. "Taichi, right?"

Taichi froze up for a moment before nodding hesitantly. "Y-yes?"

"Can you play tennis?"

**Bonding**

As it turns out, after about a minute, it became very apparent that the answer was a big fat "no", much to Ryoma and Ryoga's disappointment. They found some rackets and ball and made do with some makeshift net and marker for the field lining. Luckily the Dan family's backyard was large enough for tennis and covered with some hard surface. Considering what they have heard from Nanjiroh about Syuichiro's tennis abilities, they had thought that maybe their uncle had taught his kids how to play a bit of tennis, but that's not the case as it turns out.

"Say." Ryoma called out to Taichi, which at that point have already started panting even though he had only been running around after tennis balls for about a minute. "Did… Uncle Syuichiro ever teach you how to play?"

"You mean dad?" Taichi breathed out. "No, not really… I know dad occasionally play with the other people his age around the neighbor, but I don't think he particularly like tennis."

Well, that's understandable and also explain why they have several tennis rackets and balls in the ready. Ryoga didn't really understand about all that, but he for one knew that as long as Ryoma was still around, he won't start trying to play pianos for the sake of his self-worth. Maybe his uncle have a similar sentiment about tennis? Not really his business, but something to think about either way.

"Do you want to try?" Ryoma offered. He figured it couldn't hurt to try to befriend his cousin and tennis was pretty much the only thing way he knew to make friends.

Looking for encouragement, Taichi looked at his sister who gave him a small encouraging smile. In the first place he have always found tennis fascinating and his cousin, which admittedly he just met, seemed to be good at it, so he might as well try. He wanted to get along with his cousins after all, and it seemed like a step in the right direction. Besides, there's no way in hell that he would be able to gather the courage to approach them by himself.

"P-please." Dan meekly stated, earning him a pleased smirk from Ryoma.

**Mutual**

"Looks like they're having fun." Rinko commented, looking at the backyard where Ryoma and Ryoga was playing tennis against each other while Taichi and Mina have seemed to take a comfortable position on the side of the "field", quietly cheering the two.

The same couldn't really be said about Nanjiroh and Syuichiro though, as the tension was still pretty palpable among them. Rinko really wished that the two would just made up already, and from the look of it, Akane seemed to share similar sentiment. Once the whole thing is done, she really need to have some girl time with her. If her experience with her mother-in-law was anything to go by, undoubtedly they could bond over their similar predicament of being married to an Echizen. Personally she couldn't wait until Ryoma or Ryoga bring home a partner (She doesn't judge, really).

"Indeed." Akane stated. "It's nice to see Taichi being so energetic, even if only for a bit."

"I see you already started with them from a young age." Syuichiro commented.

Nanjiroh gave a small smirk. "And I see that you haven't even began."

Syuichiro sighed. "I don't want to force anything on Taichi and Mina."

"I know." Nanjiroh nodded in understanding. "Learned the hard way not to do that."

"Go figure." Syuichiro stated a bit smugly. "You've always taken after the old man more than me."

"Again, I know." Nanjiroh acknowledged.

"You're being awfully agreeable." Syuichiro commented and Najiroh simply shrugged.

They sat together in silence for some time, neither having anything to say. Even after years of separation, there was still some understanding between the two that was achieved without any word. There were many years where they were nothing but stranger, many years worth of separation, and some lingering resentment that was far from resolved. But they do understand that they both want to try, and sometimes, taking the first step was the most important part.

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**A/N. Merry Christmas, y'all and Happy Birthday to both Ryoma and Ryoga! I think I can pump out a chapter or two in the next two months because college break, so look forward to that!**


	7. Chapter 7

**i swear this isn't abandoned. i'm just really slow, but the quarantine had me up and running with my writing, so enjoy this one**

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters. ****Some OOC and AU elements (Duh).**

**Indulgent**

Nanjiroh decided to stay in Japan for a bit more, much to Syuuichiro's chagrin and everyone else's excitement. Ryoma was pretty excited about it, since that means he'd get some chance to take more photos before returning back to The US. Ryoga was excited to have another little sibling figures to play with, because as much as he loved Ryoma with all his heart, his little brother doesn't really have much cuteness in the traditional sense of the word. Sure, his brattiness and tendency to glower (pout) at everything that slightly irks him was cute, but not _cute _cute. Taichi and Mina, on the other hand, were absolutely adorable.

Like, hug and squeeze into his embrace all day adorable. He might have been able to get away with doing it to Ryoma, once upon a time, and Ryoma would probably let him do it even now. The only question was whether having Ryoma pranking him for an entire week with utter vengeance in mind was worth it or not. Usually, the answer is not. So, when he have the chance to do it with someone as fluffy and didn't promise pain of retaliation, of course he indulge himself.

"You know, you're allowed to punch him if you don't like getting used as a stuffed toy by him." Ryoma commented when he saw Ryoga practically doing what he just described to Taichi.

Taichi chuckled nervously. "I-I don't really mind…"

Ryoma shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Aww, are you jealous of little Taichi here?" Ryoga cooed, putting his head on Taichi's shoulder while still hugging the younger boy from behind, essentially nuzzling himself into him.

Ryoma made a face. "It's more like pity, but sure."

"I-It's actually q-quite nice…" Taichi mumbled. His father wasn't exactly an affectionate person, and his mother tend to dote more on his little sister, who he also loved to dote on. So he rarely had the chance to be doted on and when he have an older brother figure that happily gives out hugs and didn't mind his timid rambling, Taichi indulged himself to the whole thing. Though, he could understand if someone, like Ryoma, got sick of the whole thing from being on the receiving end a bit too often.

Ryoma's expression softened a little when he heard Taichi. _It is, isn't it?_

Ryoga hummed to himself, content with his current position. He held himself back from just straight up burying his face into Taichi's fluffy hair, since he knew that would simply be way out of line and not even a younger Ryoma liked it much.

It was only the telltale sign of a camera snapping that broke him out of his comfortable reverie, realizing that there's only one thing that sound could mean.

Glaring at the discreetly smirking Ryoma, who looked at his camera with satisfaction, Ryoga twitched in annoyance before sighing in defeat. He's sure that the photo will end up on their wall once they're back to The US, and as annoying as it was to have his brother pull a quick one on him, the picture itself probably turned out great and it definitely won't hurt to have some memento from Japan.

In the meantime, he decided to indulge on the fluffiness and cuteness that Taichi provided in spades.

**Lost and Found, Part 1**

Ryoma had a problem. A really big one, if he have to admit.

"Well, I guess now we know that we should buy a new strap for you." Ryoga commented with a teasing grin that Ryoma could see had a hint of nervousness in it.

Regardless, Ryoma glared at him. "And you're not helping."

If there's one small blessing about the whole situation was the fact that Ryoma knew the general vicinity of where he lost the camera, thus narrowing their search parameter significantly. The problem being, he have no idea about _when _did he lost it. After all, he did spend about four hours, according to Ryoga, just wandering around the block, camera either in hand or slung around his shoulder, attached to the strap that apparently had broke at some point.

Ryoma remembered that the last time that he had used the camera to take photo was when he came across a tennis court where two people he recognized to be very good players, probably around his and Ryoga's agae, were playing. He wasn't so bold to just take their photos without permission of course, that's one of the thing he learned very early on when he learn how to use a camera, but the surrounding area were good enough and it gave him an excuse to stick around and watch them play. He remembered that the court was pretty close to a middle school which he couldn't remember the name of.

"Hey, is that the middle school you told me about earlier?" Ryoga asked, gesturing to a nearby building. "The one you said have a tennis court nearby where you take photos."

Looking at the direction Ryoga was gesturing to, Ryoma quickly realized that yes, that's the school that was close to the tennis court that he was taking photos in. He quickly looked around for the tennis court, since that would mean they have a starting point to trace his steps back. Once he found it, he realized that the two other kids from earlier was still in there. Maybe they remembered him wandering around earlier and could help a little?

Honestly, the only reason he even considered that was because Ryoga was with him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even bother because dealing with people outside of tennis is bothersome, and he didn't have his racket in his hand at the moment.

"Well, aren't you a social butterfly." Ryoga teased after suggested such to his older brother, explicitly saying that _he _should be the one talking to them.

Ryoma simply ignored him.

**Lost and Found, Part 2**

As it turned, the two boys did notice Ryoma when he was hanging around to take photos earlier.

"Unfortunately, we didn't see anyone else with camera around here after you left." The one with a white bandana around his head said. "Have you tried checking out the local police station? Maybe someone had found your camera and brought it there."

Ryoga smiled sheepishly. "We're not exactly from around here."

The other boy, the one wearing a black cap." I see. Perhaps we can help with that."

"Really?" Ryoga asked, surprised. "We don't want to inconvenience you."

"It's alright, we're just wrapping up here and we lived not too far from the police station." The one with the white bandana replied with a smile.

"Thanks, then." Ryoma said with a nod. "What's your name? I am Ryoma Echizen, and my brother here is Ryoga Echizen."

"Echizen is the surname, by the way." Ryoga chirped in, reminding Ryoma that he got the order wrong since they're in Japan. Ryoma promptly ignored him.

"Yukimura Seiichi." The one with the white bandana said.

"Sanada Genichirou." The one with the black cap followed.

The two then led Ryoma and Ryoga toward the police station, Ryoga making some small talk in their walk there, mostly with Yukimura as Sanada seemed to be content with staying quiet for most of the time unless prompted to talk. Which honestly already made Ryoma like him. They found out that the two were about the same age as Ryoga, which means about two years older than Ryoma.

"Also, I noticed that you seemed to glance to the court quite often when taking photos." Yukimura mentioned to Ryoma. "Do you play?"

Ryoma shrugged, not really bothered by found out because it's not like he's trying to hide his interest. "Yeah. You two are really good."

"We're part of a local club with older kids." Sanada added, feeling slightly proud.

Ryoga whistled. "Ryoma didn't just say that to everyone you know. We should play sometime."

"We're returning to The US in a week." Ryoma reminded dryly. "But yeah, if we got time before then maybe we can come here again and play."

Yukimura hummed. "That sounds good."

Once they arrived to the police station, both Sanada and Yukimura bid their farewell and Ryoma and Ryoga immediately went to the lost and found section and asked if there's anyone who brought over a camera there in the last hour or so. Luckily for Ryoma, someone did, and it is his camera. After showing the proof that the camera is indeed his by showing the officer some of the photos in it, the officer told him that someone had brought it in just a little bit ago.

"He's around your age, actually." The officer mentioned, rummaging through one of the chest in the desk and took out a small piece of paper with something scribbled onto it. "He left his name and parent's phone number in case something came up."

Ryoma considered it for a second before taking the piece of paper. It won't hurt to try and maybe thank the person at least through the phone, and he's pretty sure that if his parents found out, they'll insist on giving something in return to whoever found it even though Ryoma found that sentiment pretty stupid. You're not supposed to be rewarded for being a decent human being, but oh well.

Kiyosumi Sengoku huh. Whoever he is, he's pretty lucky to have found his camera, Ryoma thought.

**Lucky, Part 1**

Apparently, Kiyosumi Sengoku was Taichi's upperclassmen in school that he was pretty close with, which made the whole thing much easier. Ryoma found out about it as soon as they returned to the Dan household where he, Ryoga, and their parents had been in for the past week or so since their aunt insisted on them staying there. Uncle Syuichirou and his Dad wasn't exactly happy with the arrangement, since their relationship was still pretty icy no matter how much thawing had been done, but Ryoma guessed that what Nanjiroh called "feminime wiles" won over in the end.

"Really, it's no problem!" The happy go lucky boy said. Taichi had asked him to come out to the gate where both his cousins were waiting, surprised that the camera he found the day before belonged to the relative of the person he dubbed as his "favorite kouhai". "I found it by complete accident anyway, stuck in a bush not far from a tennis court."

Ryoma twitched. Of course that's where it was. "How did you even find it in the bush, anyway?"

"I actually tripped into it!" Sengoku replied cheerfully. "Thought I was being unclucky, but it turns out be good luck after all~"

"Senpai here is known as 'Lucky Sengoku' in the school." Taichi supplied. "He played tennis too, by the way."

The mention of tennis made both Ryoma and Ryoga perked up in interest.

"Yeah, I'm not too bad at it." Sengoku stated. "My luck is also very good when I'm playing, so I like it quite a lot."

Ryoma and Ryoga glanced at each other. Well, now they know what they're gonna "give" to Sengoku as thanks for him finding the camera after all.

**Lucky, Part 2**

Ryoga actually had to gape at the sheer luck that Sengoku continued to have in the game that they had.

"Okay, I know that you're lucky but that's just ridiculous." Ryoga accused. "Are you really not just pretending to not be a genius?"

Sure, he's winning so far, 5-3 on his favor, with the current set going 30-30, and yeah, he have been taking the whole thing rather relaxedly since as good as Sengoku was, there's still a pretty obvious gap in their skill. One that Ryoga found to be much closer than he thought due to Sengoku's freakish luck.

Ryoma had been watching the whole thing from the sideline, mostly laughing quietly with every bewildered expression Ryoga made when Sengoku's luck began acting up to screw him over. For once, Ryoma wasn't too upset about losing the janken to have a go first at Sengoku.

"Believe it or not, it happen pretty often." Taichi stated. "My class have a direct view to the school's open tennis court, so I get to see Sengoku-senpai in action quite a lot."

"Must have been pretty entertaining." Ryoma commented before snickering to himself as Sengoku tripped on his feet, yet that very trip was what gave him the needed range to return Ryoga's serve to equalize their point again, earning yet another frustrated yell from Ryoga. Truly, the conflict between holding back to actually give your opponent a chance (Too much chance really, when factoring in Sengoku's luck), and just going straight up serious and annihilate your opponent was truly well and alive in the match between Ryoga and Sengoku. Though, Ryoma had a feeling that even if Ryoga actually played seriously, Sengoku would still managed to pull off some bewildering stuff.

Screw actually playing, Ryoma decided. Maybe he'd actually just buy some snacks and watch it on the side with Taichi. After all, Ryoga had gotten all show-off-ish bastard and wanted a first to two sets match after all. Serve him right.

**A/N: very light on the brotherly fluff again, since i want to establish certain connections first (wink wink). i promise the coming chapter will focus on just Ryoma and Ryoga being idiots together again.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I did not own PoT or any of its characters.  
**

**Ryoga: 11 Y.O.**

**Ryoma: 9 Y.O.**

* * *

**Shared**

If there's one thing that Taichi noticed very quickly when it comes to Ryoma and Ryoga, it's the fact that they shared pretty much _everything_. Not in the "what's yours is also mine" kind of sharing, however but in the "I'll just take or use your stuff and you won't resist" kind of sharing. It's kind of amazing, really.

Sometimes Ryoga could be drinking milk and Ryoma would just come out of nowhere with a cookie, dip it into Ryoga's milk, and neither of them said anything about it. Their father would complain about how it's gross, but would immediately be shut up with an incredulous stare from Taichi's father as if to say "Really?" which kind of alluded to the idea that once upon a time, Taichi's own father and Uncle Nanjiroh might be like that as well.

Not just that, the amount of time he saw Ryoma wears Ryoga's shirt despite the obvious oversize, or their very liberal interchangeability when it come to their respective DS (Which apparently they both have). Sometimes Taichi wondered if there's any sort of privacy between the two of them, considering that even he and his sister was never anywhere near _that _close and open to each other, largely owing to their difference in gender.

Strangely enough, however, Taichi sometimes felt that he might be yet another thing that Ryoma and Ryoga shamelessly shared between them. Ryoga have grown to really like just playing around with Taichi's hair, which he said to be "very cute and fluffy" while Ryoma would just wordlessly came up to them and lay down on the floor or sofa or whatever then lay his head on Taichi's thigh.

At first, all that was much to Mina's annoyance who felt that her brother was getting monopolized by someone else. Of course, that quickly changed when Ryoma and Ryoga simply scooted over slightly and let her join in. They were willing to share, apparently.

Thus, that was how Taichi often found himself in the situation he was in then. Ryoga playing something on his (or was it Ryoma's?) DS while at times absentmindedly playing with Taichi's hair, Ryoma also playing on his (or was it Ryoga's?) DS with his head on Taichi's thigh, and lastly, Mina drawing something on a small whiteboard on her thigh while leaning onto Taichi.

The usually shy ten years old can only sigh and accept his fate. Sure, it's uncomfortable at times, but he's happy to be surrounded by his family, both the one he have for a long time and his newfound ones.

**Ticket**

Nanjiroh and Rinko was panicking, due to the fact their airplane tickets were missing. They're already inside the airport, Ryoma and Ryoga watching with passive looks on their face as their parent scrambled around to look for their missing tickets.

"You hid it, didn't you?" Ryoma asked quietly to Ryoga without looking up from his DS, the headphone connected to his iPod covering his ears.

Ryoga simply hummed. Ryoma's question was definitely a rhetorical one, since they both knew of the fact that indeed Ryoga had sneakily took the tickets inside of their mothers purse and hid it within his own bag. When their parents realized that they had lost the tickets, Ryoga and Ryoma had simply shrugged and said that they never touched the ticket at all. In Ryoma's case, that was 100% the truth. In Ryoga's case, that was definitely a lie.

Why did he do that? Well, for one he's really annoyed by the fact that Nanjiroh and Rinko had pretty much decided to push forward their departure from Japan by a few days. Fully knowing that both Ryoma and Ryoga have things they wanted to do in the last few days they have in Japan (Mostly Ryoga who wanted to play with Sengoku more, because the damn masochist have grown to see the whole mess that is Sengoku's luck as a fun challenge). Besides, the whole thing made Taichi and Mina cry, and at that point both Ryoma and Ryoga had practically taken up their cousins as their own siblings, so they're allowed to be petty.

Looking at the departure times, Ryoga could see that their plane won't depart for another one and a half hour or so, which meant that there's still some time for him to kick back and relax while his parents scrambled around looking for the tickets.

Suddenly, Rinko paused then turned an accusatory glance toward both him and Ryoma, the latter simply shrugging toward Ryoga's general direction. Which Ryoga didn't miss, and the older glared at the younger with a look that said "traitor". Again, Ryoma simply shrugged nonchalantly, still not bothering to look up from his DS or to take off his headphone, and instead pull his hat down.

He wanted to smack his brother but he knew damn well that he need Ryoma's help for him to survive the airplane trip. So in the end, he begrudgingly took out the tickets from his bag and handed it over to his mother. Looks like he'd have to resort to other petty methods once they're in Japan.

**Baking**

There's a general rule of thumb in the Echizen household regarding the kitchen. The biggest one being: Do NOT under any circumstances let Ryoma do anything in it other than look for food inside the fridge because apparently the youngest brat within the house have zero (0) concept of time and way too much thing against following written instruction properly to be trusted with any kind of cooking.

So far, the only time that they had ever let him in the kitchen had been the one time where they have to replace the microwave because apparently Ryoma didn't trust the suggestions on reheating pizza and instead of microwaving it for about a minute in normal microwave temperature like any other sane human being, he instead put it in for five minutes in maximum temperature because, to quote the brat himself, "I like my pizza slightly crunchy", which predictably result in a disaster.

In what ultimately was a pointlessly petty revenge of sort, Ryoga decided that he's going to violate that very rule for this one time in his attempt to bake a cookie by himself. Why did Nanjiroh allow an eleven years old kid try to bake by himself? You might think that it's because he's a terrible parent and you'd be right.

However, things… didn't turn out the way that Ryoga thought it would be.

"It's finished." Ryoma noted lazily as he put the baking sheet on the counter, a perfectly finely baked slightly steaming chocolate cookies on it.

Ryoga blinked. It turned out perfectly fine, at least physically as far as he can see. He poked the cookie. Yep. It turns out great. Which… definitely wasn't how he thought it's gonna be, since he let Ryoma put the cookies inside the oven without any supervision hoping that it's going to cause a minor disaster within the kitchen.

After some time, the cookies cooled off enough for Ryoga to try it out without any hesitation or doubt of accidentally burning his own tongue. A bite. It's good. Better than he and his mother had ever made together.

He watched as Ryoma lazily ate one of the cookies before the younger glanced at him, smirked and said, "Mada mada dane, nii-chan. I like cookies."

Ryoga's left eye twitched as the annoyance bubbled, but then he took another from the cookie subconsciously and immediately calmed down. It's really good. Maybe he should look for another way of petty revenge that doesn't involve ruining perfectly good cookies and kitchen appliances.

**Cats**

Ryoma liked cats. When asked, he's pretty sure that he would rank cats among his top five favorite things alongside of tennis, photography, music, and grape flavored beverages. Though, annoyingly enough, he have yet to find a cat that he felt like he wanted to bring home and keep with him forever nor have he met any cat that seemed to want to go home with him and stay with him forever.

Nanjiroh, as per usual, didn't really care, and Rinko thought that having a pet would be a good way to develop a sense of responsibility in Ryoma (Something that apparently she felt was severely lacking from Ryoma, and Ryoma simply didn't care enough to dispute that). Ryoga liked cats too, though not as much as Ryoma, and probably would steal whatever cat that Ryoma decided to keep from time to time since that's just the way they worked these days.

Whenever he's not playing tennis and also not particularly in the mood to play his piano or read books, Ryoma would go to the nearby park and take photos of the cats there. He's no quite sure the exact amount, but Ryoma knew that most of the photos inside of his camera was probably of cats.

That day, he saw a particularly pretty and cute looking cat in the park. A cat with thick, glistening dark brown furs. One that unfortunately for Ryoma, already have a collar around its neck, signaling that it already have an owner. Which means that even if he grew to like it a lot and vice-versa, he couldn't bring the cat home with him. Though maybe if he's lucky he can meet its owner. The car did seem well-groomed, which means that whoever owned it must have took pretty good care of it.

For the time, however, Ryoma stuck with taking pictures of it prowling around the park before eventually it climbed onto an empty park bench and slept there, which of course Ryoma took photo of. If only Ryoga was with him there, he would probably have joined the cat napping on the bench.

"Let me guess, you want to take a nap on the bench with the cat?" A voice teased from behind Ryoma. One that he knew very well, a bit too well, really. Ryoma turned toward Ryoga with an annoyed look on his face, as if to ask "What are you doing here?"

Ryoga shrugged. "Got an art block and can't came up with anything to draw."

Ryoma was silent for a bit before eventually wordlessly handing over his camera to Ryoga and went to the bench, carefully making sure that he didn't disturb the sleeping cat, before eventually joining the cat in napping on the warm park bench.

As if by magic, several more cats approached the bench and joined both the already sleeping cat and Ryoma. Some took a spot on the bench, some on the ground around the bench, with one climbing onto Ryoma's lap then fell asleep there.

Ryoga stared at the camera in his hand. "Hmm, how am I supposed to use this thing again?"

In the end he did manage to figure it out, took a photo of Ryoma napping while surrounded by cats, and decided he might as well have fun while his younger brother have his nap while still keeping an eye on him.

A few days later, Ryoma stared at a new photo on the wall of his room. One that he didn't remember taking nor printing. A photo of him napping on a park bench, surrounded by sleeping cats. In the end, he shrugged and move along. It's a nice photo by Ryoga's standard, and its cats. So he couldn't complain much.

**Misuse**

The first thing that greeted Ryoma when he and Ryoga finally arrived on the court where Ralph had promised to meet and play tennis with were of Dudu throwing a tennis ball toward Kiko who punted it with his tennis racket as if it's a baseball bat.

"…what are you doing?" Ryoma finally asked as he put the bag he brought on the side of the court.

"They're playing a mix of tennis and baseball." Ralph answered. "It somehow got popular as of late."

Kiko, who had noticed their arrival, turned toward them and waved his hand. "Hey, you two were finally here! Come and play with us. Believe me, it's really fun!"

Ryoma shot a skeptical look at the blond, though Ryoga's expression morphed into one of interest instead. Before long, Ryoga was already standing there, racket in hands, waiting for the ball while Ryoma stood in the sideline with a passive face.

"How does this even work?" He asked to Dudu, who stood beside him.

"Well, it's pretty simple actually. One of us throws the ball from the other side of the net, then the hitter hit the ball using a racket but only by using two hands and the ball have to land inside the court or it's an out." Dudu explained. "You can't jump when hitting, by the way."

"Ah." Ryoma nodded. It does make things harder, since that would require a whole lot control since swinging with two hands made power control pretty hard. He remembered that his father had a technique that required swinging the racket with two hands, a part of the whole "Samurai" thing. Maybe he could try doing that using this…

Though, as he watched Kiko scream while jumping out of the way a vicious hit from Ryoga, maybe they should really just play normal tennis instead…

* * *

**A/N: Surprise! I'm back on this fic, hopefully I stick around longer this time.**


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